March 5-15, 2026, Operation International’s Cleft Repair Team will return to Houaphanh, Laos for our second surgery mission in the region. Houaphanh is one the most underserved and geographically isolated provinces in Laos, where access to specialized surgical care is extremely limited due to widespread poverty, geographic isolation and a critical shortage of trained healthcare providers. Our team Aims to help fill this gap in care by providing life changing cleft lip and palate repairs for patients who would otherwise have no access to these surgical services.
Untreated cleft lip and palate leads to lifelong feeding and speech difficulties, recurrent infections, social isolation, and reduced economic opportunities. Our team plans to provide cleft lip and palate repair to 60 patients from Houaphanh and surrounding provences. In most setting, these surgeries are performed within the first year of life; however, in Houaphanh, many patients live with these conditions well into adulthood due to lack of access to care.
The mission will have immediate, life changing impact by providing cleft lip and palate repair to 60 patients who otherwise would not have access to care, helping improve feeding, speech, overall health, and social integration. Beyond the surgeries, our team will work closely with local surgeons, anesthetists and nurses to share practical skills so care can continue after we leave.
Operation International cleft team traveled with 24 volunteers from all over the world to Sam Neua-Houaphanh Laos 3/5-3/14/2026, treated 55 patients, with 69 surgical procedures in 5 days. Providing free Cleft lips and or palates to the people of Laos, some traveling 3 days by bus to get to a very remote area of Laos. For most of them, this is the only opportunity they have to have corrective surgeries. Our patients age ranges from 3 months to 66 years old.
